$8000 expense into $4000

[mxer54]

I recently turned a $8000 expense into a $4000 one. I have a paid off vehicle, I bought it for 34k and it's been paid off for about 2 years now.  It has about 190k on it.  My engine recently took a crap, I was forced to make a choice.  Replace the vehicle, have the engine replaced, or fix it myself.

I have maintenance experience, I love my vehicle and everything else on it is in outstanding shape.  I decided to keep it instead of get a replacement...I know everything about this one and it's been great to me over the years.

Engine replacement quoted at $8000 from a reputable place...I decided to do it myself.  Not only have I replaced my engine, I've replaced the torque converter, fluids in the entire vehicle. a couple of worn lines and hoses, the starter, intake manifold, hubs and rotors, and a few other items.  I've also had to buy a few tools that will come in handy on future jobs...I rented the ones that wouldn't.  I am right around $4000 for everything...

In the end, I have a paid off vehicle that is reliable for another 200k (at least) and some new tools, not to mention increased gas mileage of about +10mpg.  The best part...I was able to drop that money without any problems, borrowing, or stress plus I have a detailed knowledge of everything under that hood and body.  Living within your means and focusing on saving really helps when you're in a rough spot...I have coworkers that dont have $50 to their name.

[CabinetGuy]

This truly is baddass.  Yes, it's impressive that you had the money to do it, but the knowledge and ability to do such work is incredible.  Becoming a lost art for the average man.

Congrats,

Jon

[greenmimama]

Very impressive and quite the savings!

[2ndTimer]

Congratulations on being totally mustachian.  The only thing you could have done better is bring the new engine home on your bike.

[James]

Wow, that is impressive, and the feeling you get from something like that is about as good as the money savings.

[zolotiyeruki]

What brought about the 10mpg improvement in efficiency?

[Exflyboy]

Nice job.

Not sure what happened to the engine but you could have possibly rebuilt it depending on what engine it is and what happened to it.

I rebuilt the entire engine on my Dodge Neon for less than a thousand bucks including a new clutch, new synchro cones in the manual transmission and a rebuilt cylinder head off the shelf

Lot more work of course and you need a few more skills like using plastigauge to size bearing clearances etc.

Now if it was a VW Toureg engine that busted a cam belt like a friend of mine did.. that engine was $12K.. so he scrapped the car.. Wish I had known I could have had a very nice SUV out of the deal..:)

Frank

[seanc0x0]

Awseome job!

I did this years ago when I was a broke college student. Needed a new engine in my old beater of a '97 Neon. Fortunately, they're real common, so I was able to get a $400 replacement from a low mileage '99 that was totalled in a rear-ender. Got $100 back for the core when everything was done, and had a nice project over the Christmas holidays.

Learned a lot and got a pretty decent feeling of accomplishment from that project too.

[mxer54]

Thanks everyone! Yeah, I was pretty happy about how it turned out.  The 10mpg increase in mileage is probably due to the old engine being completely worn out...it was tired.  I also cleaned out all passages in the throttle body, replaced the front hubs, and I replaced the intake manifold with a new one. 

The engine had blown a head gasket and overheated which warped a head.  I could have rebuilt it...cons to that were more work, I'd still have the crank and old pistons/rings unless I rebuilt the crank which is wasn't wanting to do.  Just a bunch of work to replace gaskets and repolish items to only end up with the same tired motor basically. 

I got a remanufactured engine for $3300 that was professionally and completely disassembled, cleaned, cylinders done, etc...Plus I have a new warranty on the motor for 36 months or 100k miles, which I will never hit in 36 months.  To me, replacing it was a better option.